China launches two probes into US trade practices

(Reuters)

BEIJING, March 27 – China’s commerce ministry has initiated two counter-probes into U.S. ‌practices that hamper the flow of Chinese products into the United States, it said on Friday, refraining from immediate retaliation to U.S. measures announced earlier this month.

A trade truce between China and ​the U.S. has held since U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President ​Xi Jinping in October last year. Trump said earlier this week ⁠that he will visit Beijing in mid-May, as part of Washington’s broader effort to ​reset relations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The two Chinese investigations – scheduled to conclude within six ​months, though they could be extended – are in response to two U.S. Section 301 investigations against China, the ministry said in a statement, describing them as reciprocal.